Cooking oil is a reusable, difficult to handle, liquid needed for cooking various types of foods. When purchased, the liquid is typically marketed in disposable one gallon or one quart containers with a relatively small opening through which the liquid is poured as it is needed. Once the cooking of the food is completed, the cooking oil can be restored and used on another occasion. The containers used to market the cooking oil, however, have relatively small openings and a funnel must be used if the cooking oil is to be returned to the original container. But, the refilled cooking oil retainer is a relatively unattractive element in a kitchen and therefore, someone who desires to make frequent use of cooking oil would prefer to retain the oil in a more attractive container. Preferably, the container would not be transparent so that the liquid within the container would not be visible, and the container would be sufficiently attractive so that it could be left on a counter where the cooking oil therein would be readily available for reuse.
It is also desirable that the cooking oil be strained or filtered after each use because small particles of food become suspended in the oil during the cooking process. Unless the particles have been filtered out of the oil, the oil rapidly becomes opaque in appearance and the particles may impart an undesirable flavor to subsequent foods being cooked in the oil.
Prior efforts have been made to market cooking oil retainers having filters therein but such prior containers have failed to become a standard fixture in a kitchen. There is therefore a need for an improved container for retaining cooking oil that has an attractive appearance, can easily be cleaned, and is suitable for filtering and storing used cooking oils.